Food chopper



Nov; 29 1938. A, RABLE 2,138,203

F601) CHOPPER Filed July 13, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Nov. 29,1938 UNITED STATES FOOD CHOPPER Hans E. A. Rable, Philadelphia, Pa.,assignor to The Enterprise Manufacturing Company, of Pennsylvania,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporatio of Pennsylvania Application July 13,1938,, Serial No. 219,085

3 Claims.

This invention relates to food choppers and, more particularly, to foodchoppers of the commercial or motor-driven type.

The usual type of food chopper comprises a 5 chopper casing having abarrel within which is arranged a scroll or worm by means of which thefood to be cut is fed to a. perforated chopper plate and its coactingknife. Obviously, this worm exercises considerable thrust in thedirection of its length when in use, and for this reason it is usual toprovide at the shank end of the scroll a bearing for engagement againstthe wall ofthe barrel through which this shank end is directed. It isalso well known that the shafts of motors, and particularly motors ofthe heavyduty type, have considerable axial movement and, for thisreason, such. motors have, in most instances with which I am familiar,beenconnected through a train of gearing eliminating possibility of endthrusts through axial movement of the armature shaft.

An important object of this invention is the provision of a novelstructure through which the motor and scroll may be directly connectedwithout the necessity of providing -means for holding the shaft of themotor against end movement or of providing a bearing for the shank endof the scroll, and in which, at the same time, all possi bility oftransmission of end thrusts by either of these elements to the other iscompletely eliminated.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for mounting athrust bearing in such fashion thatit will accommodate the thrusts ofboth elements while maintaining them in proper alignment, and in whichfull lubrication for the thrust bearing may be provided and allpossibility of either the lubricant for the bearing or juices exudedfrom the chopper arriving at locations where they can result in damageeither to the bearing or the food in the chopper is completelyeliminated.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a structure ofthis character which may be very readily cleansed, may be very readilydisassembled for inspection and repair, and which will be durable andeflicient in service.

These and other objects I attain by the construction shown in theaccompanying drawings wherein, for the purpose of illustration,-I haveshown a preferred embodiment of my invention, and wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevation, partially in section, of a food chopperconstructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through the mounting for theconnection between the armature shaft and the scroll; and

Fig, Bis a section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly tothe drawings, the numeral") indicatesa suitable base upon which is securely mounted a motor M having anoutput shaft II. This shaft extends into an opening 12 formed in a.standard l3 arising from the base. The standard I3 is formed in twosections, one of which is'preferably integral with the base, asillustrated, and the other. of which comprises a retaining and closureplate l4 removably secured to the main body of the standard as by screwsl5, and adapted, as at i6, for attachment thereto of a. casing I! of thechopper proper.

The casing l1 comprises the usual barrel 18' containing alscroll 19 forfeeding material to a perforated, plate 20. and its associated cuttingknife 2|. This scroll has a shank end 22 ex; tending freely through anopening 23 in the standard-confronting end of the barrel. and H 5 shankend is equipped with a polygonal tipv 24. The standard affords anannular socket 25'seating the outer race element 26 of, a thrust bearinglocked in position by the plate M, the inner race element 21 of thisthrust element mounting a u shaft 28 which has at one d a h ad abuttingthe inner race element and at its opposite end a connecting element 30at present shown as in the form of a sleeve which is rigidly securedthereto and abuts the opposite face of the inner race element of thethrust bearing. This sleeve has a splined connection as at 3| with theoutput shaft of the motor permitting axial movement of the armatureshaft, as suggested by the construction lines at 32 in Fig. 2. The head29 has a socket 33 receiving and conforming in shape to the polygonaltip 24 of the scroll shank, this tip bottoming in the socket so thatpossible end movement of the scroll is prevented.

The plate l4 affords an annular chamber 34 about this head, one end ofwhich is defined by the end wall 35 of the barrel, this chamber having abottom drain opening 36 and an upper opening 3'! closed by a hinged gate38 through which a hose may be inserted for flushing out the chamber 34.The opposite wall of the chamber surrounds the inner end of the head andhas an annular channel 39 confronting this head, the head being formedwith throw rings 40 at opposite sides of the channel so that any liquidsmoving along the head will be thrown from the head and into channel 39.This channel has a bottom discharge opening 4| at present shown asdumping into the lower discharge opening 36 of chamber 34. The standardfurther provides, in spaced relation to the inner end of the thrustbearing, a wall 42 through which the connecting member 30 is rotatablydirected, this wall being spaced from the bearing to provide a lubricantchannel 43 and having sealing engagement with the exterior of theconnecting element as by means of a packing 44. f

It will be noted that since the stub shaft 28 is locked against endmovement with relation to the thrust bearing, all thrust of the screwwill be taken up by this thrust bearing and, since the scroll has socketengagement with the head of the stub shaft, the scroll will be heldaccurately centered and any end wear thereon as a result of feedingthrust will be avoided. It will be obvious that the output shaft of themotor can exercise no end thrust since it is simply floating in theconnecting member 30 and, therefore, no damage to either element as aresult of the direct connection will result. It is also obvious thatthrough the throw rings 40 possibility of lubricant reaching the chopperchamber is eliminated, and through the head and said rings anypossibility of juices exuding from the chopper barrel through opening 23reaching the bearing will likewise be eliminated. Furthermore, it willobviously be possible to remove the scroll l9 simply by removing theordinary retaining ring '45 and withdrawing the scroll through thelarger end of the chopper barrel, thus facilitating thorough cleansingof the apparatus, particularly when this feature is considered inconjunction with the flushing arrangement provided for channel 34.

Since the construction is, obviously, capable of a certain range ofchange and modification without departing from the spirit of myinvention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to theparticular structure illustrated except as hereinafter claimed.

' I claim:

1. In a food chopper or the like, a base, a motor on the base andincluding an output shaft, a standard on the base, a grinder casingsupported by said standard, a scroll in said casing and having apolygonally tipped shank freely extended through an opening in thestandard-confronting Wall of the casing, a thrust bearing in saidstandard and including inner and outer race elements, a stub shaftmounted in said bearing and having at one end a head socketed for thereception of the tip of said shank and at its opposite end a connectingelement splined to the output shaft of the motor, said connectingelement being fixed to said stub shaft and said connecting element andsaid head abutting opposite faces of the inner race element of thebearing.

2. In a food chopper or the like, a base, a motor on the base andincluding an output shaft, a standard on the base, a grinder casingsupported by said standard, a scroll in said casing and having apolygonally tipped shank freely extended through an opening in thestandard-confronting wall of the casing, a thrust bearing in saidstandard and including inner and outer race elements, a stub shaftmounted in said bearing and having at one end a head socketed for thereception of the tip of said shank and at its opposite end a connectingelement splined to the output shaft of the motor, said connectingelement being fixed to said stub shaft and said connecting element andsaid head abutting opposite faces of the inner race element of thebearing, means to supply lubricant to said bearing, the standardaffording a discharge chamber surrounding the head and means on saidhead for deflecting liquids moving along said head to said dischargemember.

3. In a food chopper or the like, a base, a motor on the base andincluding an output shaft, a standard on thebase, a grinder casingsupported by said standard, a scroll in said casing and having a shankfreely extended through an opening in the standard-confronting wall ofthe casing, a thrust bearing in said standard and including inner andouter race elements, a stub shaft mount ed in said bearing and havingmeans engaging opposite ends of the inner race element preventingrelative axial movement thereof with relation to the stub shaft, asplined connection between the output shaft and one end of said stubshaft, the scroll shank having its end abutted against the opposite endof the stub shaft, and means preventing relative rotation of the scrolland stub shaft.

HANS E. A. RABLE.

